Ruikun Mai received the B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the School of Electrical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China, in 2004 and 2010, respectively.,He is currently a Professor with the School of Electrical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China. His research interests include wireless power transfer and its application in railway systems, power system stability, and control.

Wireless power transfer (WPT) technology offers a contactless solution for powering sensor networks embedded within reinforced concrete, addressing the challenges of traditional wired systems, such as difficult installation, high maintenance costs, and short lifespan. Unlike conventional WPT systems that use air as the transmission medium, embedded sensor WPT systems must transmit through concrete and rebar array, which negatively impacts both output power and efficiency. In particular, the presence of metal rebar generates significant eddy currents, further reducing system performance. This speech examines the effects of concrete and rebar on WPT systems and presents methods to improve performance. Additionally, an example of WPT applications in the railway transportation is discussed.